A heart-to-heart talk
by Pucia
Summary: It looks like Hector will soon be forgotten. What will he talk with Imelda about in his last minutes?


After a flash of light, Miguel disappeared.

Hector was lying on the ground, trembling and shining most of the time. Imelda was beside him, holding his hand, but after a while she moved toward his head and put it on her lap, her second hand touching his hair.

It became clear that those were probably the last moments they could spend together. So many time had been taken from them – both in life and afterlife. Misunderstanding and broken trust between them had lasted almost 100 years. They had too little time to fix it all, to say everything they wanted... But they had to try.

When the convulsions stopped, Hector hardly opened his eyes and met Imelda's gaze. She was totally heartbroken, her glassy eyes saying that she was on the verge of tears, but for Hector's sake, she couldn't let herself have an emotional outburst.

"I'm sorry for everything", Hector spoke up falteringly.

"It's ok", Imelda answered calmly, one hand smoothing his hair.

"I should have never left Santa Cecilia", he kept talking, determined to keep his eyes open. "I'd do anything to turn back time. I'd never left on my own, Ernesto encouraged me to do this. He convinced me that I would earn lots of money so I could provide a better life for you and Coco. I know that's no excuse for me..."

"All right, you don't have to explain yourself", said Imelda, feeling a little bit calmer. Hector hadn't had spasms for over a minute and all the time he kept eye contact with her. When he spoke again, his eyes were full of admiration.

"But you wonderfully managed without me. You replaced me, you fulfilled duties that belonged to me. That's not a surprise – you were always so resourceful, strong, brave. You didn't need me."

"I did need you", Imelda insisted. "I do need you."

Before Hector could be glad about her words, he began to gleam and tremble again and this time it was the worst. He closed his eyes and grasped his stomach, overtaken by the escalating pain. He was pleading in his mind for one more minute so he could say the most important things he wanted Imelda to know.

"Please tell Coco that I'm sorry I left and I love her so much..."

"You will tell her that yourself", Imelda quickly reassured him although she could hardly believe what she had said.

"...and I love you too, Imelda, I have always loved you despite the fact that you gave me to understand that you hate me."

His confession filled Imelda with enormous remorse. All this time, he didn't blame her and in spite of her bad treatment, his feelings toward her never changed. Whereas hers... hers... The crime, which separated them so soon, was the cause of lie she believed in for almost a century, that turned her love into bitter and made her wanted to erase everything about him from her and her family's memory. But the reason behind her attitude... She couldn't let him pass away without knowing her true motives.

"Hector, the truth is I never really hated you", she said as the first tears started to stream down her cheeks. "I wanted to forget you so I could move forward and provide for my family. I had no idea it will hurt you so bad. I'm sorry I made you being forgotten. I'm sorry I didn't give you earlier a chance to explain yourself...", her voice broke.

Did he ever hear her? Completely taken by the gold light he seemed to react to nothing but all-embracing pain.

"You know, regardless, I'm lucky", he managed to whisper despite clenched teeth and turned up corners of his mouth in a weak smile. "Most of the people living in Shantytown pass away alone, sometimes nobody notices that they're gone. And I can spend my last moments with you..."

So this was the end. Ernesto killed Hector in his lifetime, but it was she, Imelda, who was responsible for his upcoming Final Death. If only she had known the truth earlier, Hector wouldn't have to suffer, Miguel wouldn't have to take on an almost impossible task, which was restoring Coco's memory. But it was too late. She couldn't help Hector. She could only ask him to not give up to keep him a little longer so maybe their daughter somehow will remember him.

"No... no... hold on a bit longer... you hear?... Hector, please don't...", she cried as her true, deep down hidden feelings started to take control over her. "I love you... so please... don't leave me alone again."

Imelda put her arms around his head, pressed her forehead against his shoulder and burst out crying. She had never cried because of him before - his departure made her angry, not cry. The person she thought Hector was, wasn't worth her tears, her love. But this fake, imaginary Hector never existed - the real Hector was always the same how she remembered him during their life together.

Now he even stopped shaking. He couldn't fight with the pain anymore, he surrendered to it and lost consciousness. He was so vulnerable, so badly hurt. Light emanating from him became much stronger, almost blinding and every second taking away his colors, making him more and more transparent. Imelda tightened her grip trying to keep him with her despite the rules governing the Land of the Dead. She was so distraught, after everything they had been through, she couldn't lose him again.

Suddenly, something changed. In an instant, the gold light disappeared and through all Hector's body passed a thrill. A moment later his chest lifted and from his throat came a stifled cry. Then he opened wide his eyes and looked around, totally confused. Slowly, he raised his head from Imelda's lap and sat on the ground.

"I'm still here...", he looked in disbelief at his body. "Coco must have remembered me! ...but that's not all..." he took a closer look at his bones and noticed that they're in much better shape - brighter and less damaged. "I'm feeling stronger than ever before... She told our family about me!" he grinned, feeling overwhelming happiness. "Oh no...", his smile disappeared when he looked at Imelda and saw tears streaming down her face. "I made you upset again..."

"Are you really here?" she stared at him, totally stunned. She reached out shaking hands and touched his shoulders to make sure she doesn't have delusions. "I swear... that for a moment I didn't sense you, I didn't see you... For one second I was sure that I had lost you again", she embraced him and accumulated in her during the sunrise emotions vented in a form of uncontrollable crying and shivering.

"Hey, hey, it's all right. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere", he hugged her the same way as he had done many times when they were a young couple. In those days, after having a rough time, Imelda could always restore peace of mind in his arms - she found out it hasn't changed a bit. "You're not going to hit me with your shoe after you let me go, right?", he asked after a few minutes when she calmed down a little.

"N-no", she laughed through tears.

"Phew, I was beginning to worry..."

"You are... you are..."

"Yeah, I know, I'm hopeless", he gave a sheepish chuckle. "But you're wonderful, so it balances out."

"No", Imelda finally let Hector go and smiled at him, and her smile seemed to him the most beautiful sight in the world. "I almost forgot you're so funny."

She was looking at him with so much love and happiness, that Hector without thinking took her hands in his.

"Imelda, thank you so much for your help and for staying with me", he said shyly smiling, waiting for her reaction. He was afraid that she, after cooled down, might want to back away from him. However, she didn't move and slightly shook her head, like she wants to say 'it's nothing'. She also returned his handshake, which encouraged him to pose her a personal question and gave him hope, that maybe, maybe, she will answer as he wished. "I... I'd like to ask you something about...", he hesitated, but he must know the truth. So he took a deep breath and finished his sentence: "About the moment when I almost lost consciousness. At the last second, I heard your voice... You told me you loved me and didn't want me to leave you... Did you really say that or was it just my imagination?"

His big brown eyes were looking at her with huge uncertainty and nervousness; gleams of hope were sparkling in them, but it was a shy feeling he supposed to be squashed like many times before. However, this time she was not going to turn him away. Fear of losing him triggered her long hidden feelings. She could no longer fight it back.

"Yes... Yes, I said so", she admitted. Hector felt as in one moment the whole tension leave his body, go away all his negative emotions, which accompanied him ceaselessly for decades - and a great wave of happiness surge through him. "I forgive you... on condition that you will never, ever leave me again."

"I-I will ne-never...", he was choked with affection.

"I know", she guessed what he wanted to say and embraced him again. This time, however, it was Hector who was crying a little, while Imelda was calming him, nestling up to him even more. "Easy, Hector, from now on everything will be alright."

The period of loneliness, heartache, anger, heartbreak and unfulfilled dreams came to an end. They could be together again. And they had more time for each other than ever before.

For the first time in 96 years in Hector and Imelda's life, everything was fine.


End file.
